Photo by: WEAR
A man was hit by a train Monday morning in Pensacola.
Pensacola Police put out a notice around 10:30 a.m. about the incident at the 17th Avenue train trestle near Graffiti Bridge.
The train that hit him was with the Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad.
Our radio partner, Newsradio 92.3, says when first responders arrived, they found the man on the side of the tracks suffering from a head injury.
Talk show host Andrew McKay says he went under the train before being pushed out from underneath it. He says the man was sitting up and talking immediately after he was run over.
Mckay reports the man was carrying a box of paint when he was hit while trying to cross the tracks.
WEAR News spoke with a witness who says Monday’s event calls for more safety measures along the tracks.
Brittany and her family were in the area of the Graffiti Bridge when it all took place.
“We pulled up to the Graffiti Bridge to try to catch some fish for Christmas,” said Brittany. “And the two guys were getting out of their vehicle to, I guess, go paint the Graffiti Bridge.”
Brittany says the two men were walking up the hill towards the train.
“I was sitting in my truck, and I was watching him walk up the hill. And I was thinking to myself, ‘please don’t walk towards the train. Just stop.’ And I kept telling myself, ‘please don’t, please don’t.’ And he just kept walking. And next thing you know, I seen him step on the little ledge. And then my heart dropped because I knew something was fixing to happen.”
The man was crossing the tracks with paint in his hand.
“And then all of a sudden, he steps on the track, and he was hit by the train,” Brittany said. “And he was hit by the train, and then he fell off the side of the bridge.”
Brittany says there’s no way the man didn’t hear or see the train.
“He clearly heard and seen the train,” Brittany said. “The train was blowing his horn at him and he just kept walking. And I know he’s not deaf because the kids talked to him.”
Brittany and her husband believe extra safety measures should be put in place to keep people off the tracks.
“There was nothing preventing that from happening. We was just on an everyday stroll to go catch some fish for Christmas dinner and there was a ton of people out there and any one of them could have stepped onto the tracks,” her husband Justin Smith said. “But with that being said, there’s no reason he should have stepped on the tracks. There’s nothing stopping any from body from being able to step on the tracks.”
Brayden Shelby agrees.
“I do see a lot of people just standing up there,” said Shelby.
He fishes by the bridge often and says he’s wary about walking on the tracks, but sees plenty of people just hanging out on them.
“Walking across there is a danger because if the train comes, there’s not much you can even do besides hang off the edge nearly,” said Shelby. “And there’s no way to tell really if one’s coming but unless you hear it or like if you feel it on the tracks.”
Police say the man was alert and his injury is not considered life-threatening.
The man was transported to the hospital for treatment.
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Source: weartv
